United States Department of Transportation
i
Assessing and Improving the Cognitive and Visual Driving Fitness of Older Long-Haul Truck Drivers-Phase I
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2018-07-30
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[PDF-2.39 MB]
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Edition:MATC Final Report, Year 1
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Abstract:Driving is a highly dynamic task that requires intact cognitive and visual skills to perform safely. Driving trucks loaded with hazardous materials requires even more careful planning and consideration to avoid unanticipated shifts in the center of gravity associated with sharp turns while speeding (slushing) or liquid surge associated with sharp braking. Such planning and consideration are highly dependent on cognitive and visual skills for accuracy. In the first year of this proposal, we developed a driving fitness assessment battery that consisted of tests that have been shown in the geriatric literature to be reliable and valid measures of driving-related cognitive and visual skills in older adults. These tests consist of the Snellen Maze Test, Trails A and B, Range of Motion and Gait Speed. Cognitively, the Mini Mental Status Examination (MMSE) has had significant limitations in driving fitness; therefore, alternative cognitive tools such as the Saint Louis University Mental Status (SLUMS) and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) exam were included, if appropriate. Drivers with a Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) will be recruited and given this battery of tests to: 1) Assess their cognitive and visual fitness, 2) establish the usefulness and effectiveness of these tests to drivers before embarking on the journey, and 3) identify potential risk factors that contribute to unsafe driving. This is Year 1 of a five-year grant. Over the course of the grant, we anticipate the study will be helpful in identifying drivers who have cognitive and/or visual impairments that may make driving a truck, especially one carrying hazardous materials, unsafe. A unique aspect of this part of the study is the possibility of improving driving fitness by offering drivers with demonstrated cognitive and visual deficits the opportunity to retrain and improve such skills in a technologically advanced high-fidelity simulator.
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Content Notes:Data was not collected during phase I of this project. It will be collected and archived in future phases.
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